


Canary Song

by Inauratalux



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, F/F, F/M, Greg has a child with Yellow instead of Rose, Implied Blue Diamond/Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe), Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Requited Pearl/Rose Quartz (Steven Universe), Tags May Change, Yellow Diamond Steven
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-24 13:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inauratalux/pseuds/Inauratalux
Summary: Instead of staying, what if Greg had left Rose? What if, along his travels as a wild and free musician he met Yellow Diamond? What if Yellow took a shining to him? What if she changed him, and he changed her?Hell, what if shit just went a bit differently?





	1. Yellow - 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will cover a lot, ranging from first encounters to smelly diapers and enemies turned friends/acquaintances/last-second baby sitters.
> 
> I can't guarantee a consistent update schedule, but perhaps in the future things will look up.

Blue often mentioned to Yellow and White her wondering of how organic life could make do on an abandoned colony’s surface when Pink - a radiant, powerful diamond - couldn’t as if their Pink  _ hadn’t _ been struck down by the Rebellion leader.

Yellow, however, knew better. She knew that a fiendish Rose Quartz had abandoned her mission, her purpose, her  _ duty, _ and  _ shattered _ her Diamond out of some foolish desire to defy to the Great Diamond Authority.

Her fists clenched at her sides as an unbidden bolt of lightning shot past her towering form like a loose thread and struck a nearby tree. The wood creaked in response to the blow before it sparked and a flame blossomed along the trunk. She eyed the golden flames as they arced and crept up the tree while intense heat devoured the bark slowly at first, then a bit faster. And faster, and _ faster, _ before the fire reached and spread to the surrounding trees.

She was terribly unimpressed with the sight. She’d seen Rubies and Hessonites with more impressive displays of fire, and Bismuth’s forges surrounded by streams of magma so hot many other gems could barely stand the heat as they collected their weapons. Yellow Diamond had seen so much more than this wretched planet could ever offer. “Holy shit- are you- are you a Crystal Gem? What are you _doing_ all the way out here?”

Yellow turned her head sharply and stared down at an unremarkable organic lifeform. It barely came to her ankle and yet it had the audacity to speak to her and... _ wait. _

“What did you say?”

“I asked if you, uh,” The measly creature ran a hand through his hair, a sheepish look on his face, “I asked if you were a Crystal Gem? I mean- obviously you are because you’re a gem and they’re gems so it’d be weird if-”

The Diamond wasn’t even listening now, lost on the name of the same rebel band who’d shattered Pink and laid waste to her colony, and the same band that caused the remaining Matriarchs so much  _ pain _ . The very same reason why she’d done the worst and gathered the shards of gems, rebel and loyal alike, to create something that would wipe this planet from the star charts permanently.

When she collected herself and leveled a fierce look upon the human who had stopped speaking long ago, it shrank back, likely intimidated by the intensity of her gaze. “...These Crystal Gems. They live?”

“Well, I guess, it’s only been a year since I saw them but-”

“Do you know where they are now?”

“-Uhhhh they live near Beachcity last I checked?”

“I see. Could they have moved since then?” Her interest was piqued, as was the desire to hunt down the rebels she had thought they’d obliterated well over a millennium ago when Blue, White, and herself showered this corner of the galaxy with their blinding auras.

“Well- you see, I don’t know?”

“How many are there?” Perhaps, if they hadn’t destroyed them all, they’d at least taken care of the bulk of the masses.

“Four, though that number changes whenever two of them fuse-”

“Four? Are you certain?” That was good. And bad. Whoever these stragglers were, they’d escaped a certain death.

“Yeah, of course I am, I’ve got eyes, and I can count!”

Yellow pinched the back of his shirt as though scruffing a kitten and rose to her full height, ignoring the human’s protests while she looked around. “And their names?” She asked, her tone leaving no room for his own questions.

“Erm, They’re uh, G-Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst and, uhm... Rose.”

Her grip tightened subconsciously, “ _ Rose _ ? As in  _ Rose Quartz _ ?”

“Yeah, uh-” The human grunted and smacked at her hand, “Yeah- can you ease up? You’re kind of-” he paused to suck in a breath, “you’re really crushing my lungs, here.”

Yellow brought him closer to her face, her piercing yellow gaze bright and unyielding, “I will put you down when I am done, human-”

“Greg.”

“...What?”

“I’m Greg, not- please don’t call me human, it’s kind of… dehumanizing?”

Her brow furrowed, but she assented, “...Greg. I will put you down when I am done. Are you friends with these Crystal Gems?”

This human, ‘Greg’, just shrugged. “Rose is pretty nice, she liked my music and enjoyed listening to m-heeEEE”

Yellow had turned back to the fire she’d accidentally started. Earlier, the fire had just branched out and lit up the foliage of a handful of trees, but now it covered far more and nearly surrounded the entirety of the clearing where her ship remained stationary until her return trip to Homeworld.

“She killed someone close to me, this Rose Quartz. You will help me bring her to justice, do you understand, Greg?”

It turns out he didn’t understand, and nor did he like the fire that was beginning to grow out of control just a few feet from where the two - or really, just Yellow - stood. She could fix that. He would understand, he would help her, and Rose Quartz would finally meet her maker -  _ after _ they moved away from the raging inferno.


	2. Greg - 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg starts a new day and it goes buck fuckin' wild.

The day had started like any other for Greg Universe; he woke up, relieved himself in the hotel bathroom, washed up, got dressed, ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel he was staying at for the night, and joined Marty in the van.

That’s where the tedium of his daily routine stopped.

At some point, while they were driving up to the gas station for the morning refill, Marty delivered a speech Greg had heard many times before. The same ‘Star Child, you’re just the same spaced-out kid you’ve been since we started this’ followed up by more insults, a few condescending scoffs whenever Greg attempted to defend himself, then a final ‘just follow my lead’.

Greg’s response wasn’t the same. He didn’t pipe down and accept the verbal abuse or manipulation. This time he straightened up, rolled his shoulders back, lifted his chin, and said, “Actually, Marty. I think it’s time we part ways. You’re fired.”

Marty gaped at the young rockstar and his grip on the van’s driver door went lax, then tensed. “Fired? FIRED?! I got you here, Universe, I  _ made _ you!”

He took a step back when Marty advanced in his direction, the former manager’s volume growing with each word, “You- You can’t fire me! You need me, kid. I’m all you’ve got.  _ No one _ would have ever bothered listening to your crap if it weren’t for  _ me _ helping you out!”

It took every ounce of strength Greg had not to backtrack and apologize to Marty, but he couldn’t let himself be pushed around, mocked, or extorted for more than half his earnings. Not anymore.

“I can fire you, and I have. I’m s-” He stopped himself with a deep breath, “You’re not needed anymore, Marty. I’m tired of you trying to use me, so we’re done.”

Greg gave the sputtering man a curt nod then pushed past him. Once he was in the driver’s seat and buckled in, he rolled down the window to peek out at Marty, who simply stood aside with a dazed expression.

“Goodbye, Marty. Good luck.”

-

He’d been certain that was where the day’s more mind-boggling events would end - him driving away from a Circle J where he’d just left Marty behind while he struggled with the instinct to run back and take back every word he said. 

Greg was wrong.

Really, really wrong.

While he camped out off the side of the road in his van for the night, the first signs of a fire reflected in his mirror caught his eye. At first, it had looked like the distant flickering of a campfire, but this ‘campfire’ started to get larger and brighter until Greg started to worry that someone left the fire unattended - or worse - they’d fallen asleep while tending to it.

Concerned, Greg jumped out of his van and took off into the forest. He pushed through the foliage and wove past trees up until he emerged into a small clearing where across from him a fire continued to spread and a giant, towering golden-yellow figure stood.

If the massive, bright yellow gemstone located on the center of her chest was any indicator, she had to be a Gem, much like Rose and her friends back in Beach City.

“Holy shit- are you- are you a Crystal Gem? What are you  _ doing _ all the way out here?”

He shrunk away when she turned to stare him down, acutely aware of their size difference as those golden eyes shone in the dark of the night.

“What did you say?” She asked.

“I asked if you, uh,” Greg ran a hand through his hair, a sheepish look on his face, “I asked if you were a Crystal Gem? I mean- obviously you are because you’re a Gem and they’re Gems so it’d be weird if you weren’t, unless they’re more like a fancy club and you just weren’t invited, in which case I’m sorry about that but… you’re not listening to me, are you?”

The woman seemed lost in her own head, her gaze unfocused while Greg stood there and looked up to her as he waited for her answer. When she looked back at him with that same intense glare, he inhaled sharply.

Their conversation continued, but Greg barely registered a word of it. His thoughts were more occupied with the terrifying realization that he was the perfect size for her to stomp on, and if he angered her, she very well could stomp on him. Stomping thankfully became the least of his problems when he was scruffed by his t-shirt and held up closer to her face.

Aside from the pressure on his ribs when she adjusted her grip, and how bitterly she said his name when he asked that she stop calling him a human - as if he was lesser than her - it wasn’t too bad to be hoisted twenty, maybe thirty feet off the ground. Her hand wasn’t really hot or cold, nor was it clammy, and she hadn’t crushed him. Yet.

“She killed someone close to me, this Rose Quartz. You will help me bring her to justice, do you understand, Greg?”

_ Oh. _

“Rose...killed someone?”

This woman’s nose wrinkled in exasperation, “Yes, human, that is what I said.”

Rose hadn’t come off as the sort to just kill someone. Pearl had been a little more ‘shoot first, ask questions later’, but they’d all seemed pleasant overall.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know- uhm-” a wave of heat encroached on his position in the air, “can you move us? I’m sorry, just- the heat’s really uncomfortable.”

It took a bit to get her to actually agree to move them away from the fire, but after he’d explained that humans could only stand a limited range of temperature, she’d done so with only a few muttered complaints about organic life and their squishy bodies and complicated needs.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to D3m0ndarks for betaing this fic so far. It'd all be a mess without my awesome bro.


End file.
